Habs Go Bye Bye - A Post Mortem by Nic Sulsky

It would be very easy to take last night’s OT loss, stuff it in a dirty sock, and toss it in the nether regions of my closet. When Nathan Horton further cemented his name on the pavement that leads to my own personal hell, I really could not see any silver lining. None. Nil. There is NO longer a place for Horton in my house, no matter how many damn Who’s he hears. Sorry kid. He’s gone. Forever.

There is just something so painfully final about an OT loss in Game 7. That may be the most obvious statement I have ever written, but, alas (yes alas), ‘painfully final’ is exactly what that moment is. I have experienced my fair share of physical pain, but few things trump the emotional anguish of watching your beloved team die suddenly.

But, while immersed in all that darkness, that horrific darkness of Game 7 defeat, one moment in the mental playback of last night’s game started skipping back to me on repeat.

With just under 2 minutes left to go in the game, and the Habs down by a goal, PK Subban became a man. Homerism, be damned people, the kid is really good. He is well on his way to being a star, but in that moment AFTER he laser-beamed that one-timer past Tim Thomas, PK didn’t jump around frantically, he didn’t scream with the giddy enthusiasm of Jake Locker when he gets picked by the Redskins at 10 overall, he didn’t celebrate as jubilantly as we have grown accustomed to. PK simply clenched his fist, pounded some air and morphed into the future Norris trophy-winning anchor to the Habs defensive core of the future.

Silver Linings suck. Anytime that phrase is used, it means some serious shit has just gone down. But heck, regardless of the pain that losing in Game 7 OT to the most hated of hated brings on, there is an image that brings a smile to my face. An image that helps me forget how the Hab’s ceremoniously consoled Carey Price after the game. An image that helps me block out the word ‘Gomez’. An image that lets me block out all overweight dancing purple elephants: P.K., confident, focused and all grows-up.